


An Apple a Day

by Duck_Life



Series: Femslash February 2019 [2]
Category: Generation X (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Class Issues, Coffee Shops, F/F, Femslash February, Flirting, Friendship, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 03:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Jubilee is embarrassed when her friends find out she's been working part-time at the local coffee shop.





	An Apple a Day

They’re shopping in downtown Snow Valley, stopping at a boutique so Monet can buy some new shoes, stopping at a cutesy little shop so Paige can buy notepads and pencils. Jubilation leads the charge, chattering nonstop about something Everett said or Emma’s new hairstyle or what Artie and Leech have gotten up to lately. 

Sometimes Jubilee talks so much it’s like she takes up all the oxygen. Monet used to find it annoying, stifling… but she’s come to think of Jubilee’s nonstop babble as a kind of comforting backdrop. Like elevator music. 

“So anyway, I told Angelo—”

“Ooh, hold that thought,” Paige says, throwing out one arm to stop Jubilee in her tracks. Across the street a coffee shop is luring them in with big comfy-looking couches and the faint aroma of cinnamon lattes. “I’d kill for a coffee right about now. You girls in?” Monet’s about to say  _ Hell yes _ when she notices Jubilee shaking her head furiously.

“No, nuh-uh, we don’t need to go there,” she huffs, walking faster, trying to lead them down the sidewalk and away from the café. “Why don’t we just finish shopping and then we can all have hot cocoa at home, huh?” 

“No, I kind of want a coffee,” Monet says, looking over her shoulder at the coffee shop. “Let’s just go in.” 

“NO,” Jubes says, absolutely adamant. “I, um, I heard that place has bugs. Like, everywhere. They would’ve gotten a D on their health inspection but they bribed the health inspector. Real shady stuff. We could go somewhere else?”

“This place is right here,” Paige argues. She hooks an arm around Jubilee and drags her across the street. 

“Yeah, what’s your problem?” Monet huffs, and even though she meant it in an irritated fashion, it still comes out a little meaner than she wanted it to sound. Jubilee is immature and loud and occasionally obnoxious… but she genuinely looks horrified at the prospect of walking into this stupid café. Maybe they should rethink the decision.

Too late, Paige pulls open the door and steps outside. The wave of warmth and the smell of freshly brewed coffee that wafts forward erases any doubts or misgivings from Monet’s mind. The place has a funky, almost retro vibe to it. There’s even a Ms. Pac-Man machine in the back, which should totally be Jubilee’s thing. How is she not all over this place?

Jubilee, instead of looking around the coffee shop, jumps behind Monet like she’s hiding. “Are you serious?” Monet scowls, turning around to glare at Jubilee. 

That’s when the guy behind the counter with the yellow-green hair perks up. “Jubes! What’re you doin’ here on your day off?”

“Day off?” Paige asks, whirling around. She’s practically got little cartoon question marks in her eyes. 

“H-hey, Kev,” Jubilee says weakly, waving from behind Monet. “Oh, I was just shopping with my friends. This is Paige, and Monet,” she introduces, pointing to them. She looks furious but also trying to keep her cool for the sake of her— coworker? Boss? 

“Fun, fun,” Kev says, drumming on the counter with his knuckles. He’s got a tattoo of David Bowie climbing up his left forearm. “What can I get you ladies?”

Paige spares one last confused look at Jubilee and then turns to skim the specials board. “I’ll have the house blend with half-and-half and sugar,” she says, reaching for her wallet. 

Monet orders a latte with whipped cream and Jubilee gets a cappuccino. Kev gives them all the employee discount, which only makes Jubilee’s face get even redder. Once they finally sit down, Paige clearly can’t hold it in any longer.

“You  _ work  _ here?”

“Well… in a sense,” Jubilee says, hunching her shoulders in as she blows on her cappuccino. It looks like she’s trying to use the big mug to hide her face. 

“What sense would that be?” Monet asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, ya know,” Jubilee sighs, staring into her cappuccino like she’s thinking of drowning herself. “I, um, I make coffee and serve it to people, and in exchange for, like, helping out, the manager pays me money.”

“So you  _ work _ here.”

“Yeah I guess I could’ve just said that,” she mutters, looking out the window, looking at the floor, looking anywhere but at Paige and Monet. “It’s not a big deal. That’s why I didn’t tell anybody.”

“And that’s why you tried to  _ run away _ when we suggested coming in here?” Monet asks, crossing her arms. “I don’t get it. So you have a part-time job. Why is that some huge secret?”

Jubilee glowers. “I don’t have a rich father, okay?” she says. “I don’t… I don’t even have a father, or a mother. I don’t have any parents sending me any money, and I don’t have my big brother’s X-Force stipend to support me,” she says, looking in turn at Monet and then Paige. “For me to be able to afford to go out shopping with you guys… I have to work.” 

They sit in silence for a moment, the only sound the crackly hum of old John Denver songs over the café stereo system. 

Then Paige says, “You didn’t have to hide it from us, Jubes. Heck, I detassel corn over the summers, that’s the only reason I got any money. Most of Sammy’s money goes back home to the kids and Momma.” 

“What made you think we’d look down on you for going out and getting a job?” Monet says, her typical air of disdain scraped away in favor of something genuine. It’s so rare to see Jubilee actually act embarrassed about something. She usually takes everything in stride, playing off everything as a joke. 

“I guess I just… I dunno,” Jubes sighs. “I’m used to getting shit from the townies about bein’ a mutant. I didn’t wanna get shit from you guys for working here.”

“Are you kidding? Jubilee, jeez, I’m proud of you,” Paige says. “This is great.”

“Yeah,” Monet agrees. “Who knew you could be responsible?” 

Jubilee lobs a balled-up napkin at her, and things are less tense after that. They drink their drinks and talk about Banshee’s latest attempts to teach the kids to sew. He keeps trying to tell them that simple life skills like home ec matter just as much as honing their mutant abilities. So far, no one except Everett is really buying it. 

Kev the Barista waves to them when they leave, telling Paige and Monet that it was nice to meet them. 

And that might have been the end of it, except that Monet shows up at the start of Jubilee’s lunch break during her shift the next day. 

“What are you doin’ here?” Jubes asks, slipping her apron on a hook behind the counter. 

“I thought you might be hungry,” Monet suggests, and while her words are helpful the tone (and expression) come off as mischievous. “So… I brought you an apple,” she says, holding up a shiny Gala apple. 

“Oh, you think you’re a fucking comedian, don’t you?” Jubilee says, but she’s grinning. When Monet was trapped in her Penance body, Jubilee used to bring her apples all the time. And now Monet’s returning the favor. “Gimme that, it might be good to eat somethin’ healthy. All I eat when I’m here is muffins and croissants.” 

Monet tosses her the apple and sits in the seat by the window, gesturing for Jubilee to sit with her. “Good to know,” she says. “Next time I’ll bring you a salad or a pot pie or something.” 

“Next time?” Jubilee says. 

“Of course,” Monet says, and when she leans forward and puts a hand on Jubilee’s knee, Jubes could swear her heart stops for a second. “Unless you’d really rather hang out with  _ townies _ all day,” she smirks.

Her big brown eyes are regarding Jubes warmly, and her voice is lower than normal, like she completely knows the effect she has on Jubilee. Jubilee ruins the moment by taking a big bite of her apple, munching and crunching.

“Well, thanks,” she says, purposely speaking with her mouth full because she knows it annoys Monet. The other girl is maybe-sort-of-kind-of flirting with her, and Jubes only knows how to flirt back one way: by annoying her. 

Monet shows up every day that Jubilee works, bringing her lunch and chatting with her during her breaks. Sometimes she brings a book and hangs out in that seat by the window, ordering chai tea lattes and reading while Jubes takes coffee orders.

One day, Jubilee’s coming out of the restroom after her shift and Kev calls her name. “Your girlfriend’s outside,” he says pleasantly, and Jubilee looks through the window to see Monet standing there in combat boots and a flowy sundress. Perfection. 

“She’s not my—” Jubes starts, but then she cuts herself off. Is she? Jubilee doesn’t really know. “Thanks, Kev,” she says, and goes outside to walk home with Monet. 

 


End file.
